One of those doors is you…

6:30am, alarm rings. I hit snooze and pray for Jesus to not let me fall back asleep. I pray to keep myself awake. “Lord, thank you for this day, please be with me and guide me to do your ways and your will….”. 6:40am, I’m up and the day must start, whether I am game or not. Tiny humans will place several requests at a voice level I am not quite ready for. Lights will turn on, making my eyes screech as if I am an Owl being exposed to the sun. This is my Monday through Friday. If you can’t already tell, I am NOT a morning person. Not at all. But I have found ways to try to perk up this little grouch because frankly, I annoy myself. One thing that often allows me to drift away from the obvious annoyance of being awake before the sun is up, is putting on my music. For me, its my Christian music because well, I need some serious Jesus in the morning. One of my favorite things they do on this station is give ‘words of encouragement’ quotes that can speak right to my still sleepy soul. It awakens me. Other times it is a song, that I’ve probably heard a million times and can sing in my sleep, but for some reason this morning the words pierced my heart like a sword. This morning it was that. It was the words of hope, truth and perspective that brightened up my sleepy eyes and gave me the pluck to start my day.

God put a million, million doors in the worldFor His love to walk throughOne of those doors is you

-Jason Gray, With Every Act of Love

It hit me that no matter where I am today on this journey, I (we) are a door to another soul’s comfort on this earth. This soul may be a stranger or a friend, but nonetheless this person needs us today. I for one feel like these last few months have been a mild but persistent tornado. What’s crazy is that I’ve never felt stronger on my home front, yet I feel the chaos spinning all around me. When I really sit with my thoughts and think about this balance, I realize that God knew what was coming. He knew that these specific souls, near and dear to my heart, would be hurting. Would be sad. Would feel hopeless. He prepared me, in this moment, to be a door. To be there to love and not fix. Listen and not speak. Sit with and not judge. How could I do this if my marriage were on the rocks, my kids were pushing me to the point of meltdowns and my finances were falling apart? These three examples have all been my reality at one point and time, and sometimes all at once. Although in this moment, this month, they are not. My marriage is loving. My children are patient (I mean as patient as a child can be… I haven’t locked myself in the bathroom recently) and my finances are stable (at the moment). This is not me tooting my own horn of excellence, this is me realizing that God sealed up my foundation, if even just for a few moments, to keep me strong and steady for those that might need me. I literally can’t remember a time where all 3 of these elements were in sync, but I also can’t think of a time where I have had more ‘brothers and sisters’ need a door. Maybe I am the door for someone to walk through. Lord knows, during my last season of hurt, they were my door to sit with, cry with and heal.

One of my favorite stories that was recently retold to me was the parable of the Good Samaritan.

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” …Luke 10:25-37

We find out from the rest of the story that as a Priest and Levite walk past a robbed, beaten man on the side of the rode, it is the good Samaritan that not only helps him up, places him on his donkey but takes him to an inn to be cared for. This was Jesus’ way of telling us how we all should live. It is not our status or rank that makes us worthy, it is our humanity for injustice and caring for those who are injured that places that worth upon us. It is being there for those who need you. It is not walking past, ignoring or avoiding the hurt because it makes you uncomfortable.

So whether it is you that needs a door or you that can be a door, trust in His word, His truth. Trust that you are not alone, He has placed people in this world to serve and comfort you in your pain and loss. He has placed you and me in this world to serve and comfort others in their pain and loss. This world can really suck sometimes. It hurts. It doesn’t feel fair or just. There is hatred, bigotry, racism, injustice, poverty, sex trafficking, addiction, mental disease, infertility, orphaned children…I could honestly just keep going, you get the point. Lets stop this cycle of abuse, hurt and lonliness. Lets be a light to others. Lets shine bright in the darkest of skies. Today is a new day, full of new opportunities. There is nothing we can’t survive. We will get through this because He has already walked the path, carved it out and placed Himself beside us to walk with us.

Be a door. Be a hug. Be a voice. Be YOU.

4Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:4

Published by Melanie Ortiz, motheringinthemess.blog

2 thoughts on “One of those doors is you…”

Ah this one is great. You have a gift for writing please keep it up. The way you think through life and connect it to the heart of God and his word is amazing and I’m so so proud of you. Proud to not only know this writer but be apart of her life, her friend, and the one I can go to when my foundation seems rocky knowing that I will do the same for her when that time comes.